Crime is an act or omission, which is prohibited by the law
particularly criminal.
Cyber-Crime is the latest and perhaps the most specialized and dynamic field in
cyber-laws.
One of the greatest lacunae of this field is the absence of a set of
comprehensive law
anywhere in the world. Further the growth ratio of internet and cyber-law is not
proportional Too.
The era of nuclear warfare conceived the idea of a system which could even
survive the devastation of nuclear weapons. "A post-apocalypse command grid" was
the original idea for Internet -'Bruce Sterling' has stated. The idea of
'internet' was
conceived in the early 60's while a code for its regulation was mooted in late
90's .
This clearly brings about the reason for the complication of cyber-crime.
Cyber-Crime may be said to be an act which violate netesthetics.
India has enacted the first I.T.Act,2000 based on the UNCIRAL model
recommended by the general assembly of the united nations by a resolution dated
30th.jan.1997..The preamble to this Act gives a very clean picture in this
regard.
Chapter XI of this Act deals with offences/crimes along with certain other
provisions
scattered in this Acts .
The various offences which are provided under this chapter are-
Tampering with
Computer source documents S.65;
Hacking with Computer systems S.66;
Publishing of material obscene in electronic form S 67,
Access to
protected system S.70;
Misrepresentation S.71;
Breach of Confidentiality and
Privacy
S.72;
Fraud S.74;
Further Chapter IX u/p of S.43 refers to the damage to Computer,
computer system, etc.
Commission of Cyber-Crime may be broadly divided
against three basic groups -
1.
Individual a. Person & b. Property of an individual
2. Organization
a. Government
b. Firm, Company, Group of Individuals.
3. Society at large
The following are the crimes, which can be committed against the
followings group
Against Individuals -
i. Harassment via e-mails.
ii. Cyber-stalking.
iii. Dissemination of obscene material.
iv. Defamation.
v Hacking/cracking.
vi. Indecent exposure.
Individual Property: -
i. Computer vandalism.
ii. Transmitting virus.
iii. Netrespass.
iv. Unauthorized control over computer system.
v. Hacking /cracking.
Against Organization: -
i. Hacking & Cracking.
ii. Possession of unauthorized information.
iii. Cyber terrorism against the government organization.
iv. Distribution of pirated software etc.
Against Society at large.
i. Pornography (basically child pornography).
ii. Polluting the youth through indecent exposure.
iii. rafficking.
The elementary problems, which are associated with Cyber-Crimes, are: -
i. Jurisdiction is the highly debatable issue as to the maintainability of
any suits which has been filed. Today with the growing arms of
cyberspace the growing arms of cyberspace the territorial boundaries
seems to vanish thus the concept of territorial jurisdiction as envisaged
under S.16 of C.P.C. and S.2.of the I.P.C. will have to give way to
alternative method of dispute resolution.
ii. Loss of evidence is a vary common & expected problem as all the data
are routinely destroyed. Further collection of data outside the territorial
extent also paralyzes this system of crime investigation.
iii. Cyber Army- There is also an imperative need to built a high
technology crime & investigation infrastructure, with highly technical
staff at the other end.
iv. A law regulating the cyber-space, which India has done.
v.Though S.75 provides for extra-territorial operations of this law, but they
could meaningful only when backed with provision recognizing orders
and warrants for Information issued by competent authorities outside
their jurisdiction and measure for cooperation for exchange of material and
evidence of computer crimes between law enforcement agencies.
vi. Use of encryption of messages , virtually private networks etc. also
create a big problem to trace the activities of cybercriminals.
vii. Cyber savvy judges are the need of the day. Judiciary play a vital role
in shaping the enactment according to the order of the day. One such
stage, which needs appreciation is the P.I.L. which theKerela high Court
has accepted through an email.
viii. The procedural obligation which have to be fulfilled such as letters rogatery U/s 166A & 166B of the Cr.P.C. and bar in case of crimes
committed outside India. (i.e. prior approval of the central
government.).
Perfect' is a relative term. Nothing in this world is perfect. The persons who
legislate
the laws & by-laws also are neither perfect. The laws therefore enacted
by them nor can be perfect. This law has emerged from the womb of globalization.
It
is at the threshold of development. In due course of exposure through varied &
complicated issues it will grow to be a piece of its time !
P.A.S.Pati
Contact Address:
Parthasarathi Pati7 C, Ashok Nagar, Road No 1, Ranchi,
Jharkhand
885/4/1 Bandarkar Road, Deccan
Gymkhana, Pune 4
E-Mail